Professional Climbing Guides Institute

The PCGI provides thorough and affordable rock climbing guide education. Our intensive, hands-on courses focus on both technical guiding skills, as well as the pedagogical skills essential for providing safe and enriching experiences for clients. Our goal is to build climbing guides that make sound guiding decisions based on thoughtful analysis and technical expertise. We provide skilled mentors who will invest in your success as a rock climbing guide during your education with the PCGI. We offer four certifications: Top Rope Guide, Single-Pitch Guide, Lead Guide, and Multi-Pitch Guide.

The Top Rope Guide Course (TRG) is designed as a introductory level Top Rope rock climbing guide training program. No lead climbing is conducted during the TRG. Topics include anchor extensions, top and bottom managed sites, belayed rappels, applicable rescue techniques, and group facilitation skills.

The Single-Pitch Guide Course (SPG) is designed for guiding and instructing in Single-Pitch lead climbing terrain with 2 clients. It introduces new belay techniques, technical rescue, and group facilitation skills.

The Lead Guide Course (LG) is designed as transitional course between guiding straight forward single pitch terrain and more complex routes up to grade I/several pitches. This course covers complex approaches and descents, short roping techniques, the full rescue curriculum, and transitions. Prior guiding experience or guide training strongly recommended.

The Multi-Pitch Guide Course (MPG) is designed to be an advanced guide training course applicable for non-glaciated multi-pitch rock climbs up to Grade III. Topics covered include efficient transitions, rope management skills, simul-belay and alternative systems, short roping, complex approaches and descents, and the full rescue course.

The Rescue Course (RC) is perfect for current professional rock climbing guides and instructors seeking to improve rescue skills, or for people seeking to move into the field of professional rock climbing guiding. It covers a wide variety of techniques for dealing with rescue situations in multi-pitch terrain and below.

PCGI is always looking for highly qualified guides and educators to help us provide PCGI courses and assessments to a growing audience nationwide and beyond. Aspiring mentors should be gifted PCGI certified guides, excellent communicators, and have the desire to help teach others and expand the PCGI community.

Testimonials

This is simply outstanding!! Thank you PCGI and your team for putting all of this great information together - it is far more than we ever expected.
Thanks again for PCGI's wonderful support of the U.S. Army Combat
Readiness/Safety Center - you have certainly gone above and beyond anything we expected!
- Mollie Miller, U.S. Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center

Our instructors benefited immensely from our interaction with Zeke, Sierra Rock Climbing School and PCGI. We would not hesitate to recommend them to other aspiring climbers, teachers and guides. - Chris Chan and Dave Johnson Co-Presidents - Stanford Alpine Club

I recently took the PCGI Top Ropes Course with Seth Zaharias of Cliffhanger Guides in Joshua Tree. I was impressed with the amount of time, personal attention and patience that was exhibited during the course. Not only were they interested in the amount of information I knew about how to do things, Seth wanted me to question why we do them that way. It helped me realize the significance of the technology and safety in our modern climbing world. Just being "status-quo" wasn't good enough for this PCGI guide, he's at the top of his game! Thank you Seth and thank you PCGI for creating a hands-on classroom that I actually learned from! - Matthew Cadwell, Higher Ascent Wilderness Experience